


RESET

by Mikkeneko



Category: Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle
Genre: Coitus Interruptus, Humor, M/M, Post-Series, Time Fuckery, actually a stealth ME crossover, format screw, no Sakura, not that the characters have any reason to know this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-05
Updated: 2017-01-05
Packaged: 2018-09-15 01:52:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9213845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mikkeneko/pseuds/Mikkeneko
Summary: The travelers come to a strange, abandoned research facility which just may have the secrets they need. But for some reason, they're having trouble making much forward progress...





	

**Author's Note:**

> This was written as a 'Team Light' entry for the **[2016 Kurofai Olympics.](http://kurofai.dreamwidth.org/tag/2016+olympics)** The prompt was, "Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it."

1.  
  
   
  
The first few seconds of any world, no matter how strange, were always the same.   
  
Time and space warped around them, stretched almost to the breaking point; through the veil of Mokona's magic they saw only blurs of color and form, sky and ground and looming shape. Then they took the last step, the spell was over, and the world snapped into place again.   
  
This time Mokona had brought them inside a large building, the ceiling high overhead and the walls spaced wide apart from each other. Bright white lights shone upwards from hidden recesses along the walls, and both walls and ceiling were made of a hard, rocklike material scuffed with many years of wear. The carpet underfoot was thin and gritty, a dark red color verging on brown.   
  
Fai looked around; he had a hunch just from the first few seconds of being there that this world wouldn't have much to interest him. He could sense no magic in the vicinity, neither crafted nor intrinsic, and the lights looked flat and electric to him. Still, just because a world wasn't terribly interesting didn't mean it was  _bad;_  in a life spent on the move as theirs was, there was a lot to be said for some humdrum, boring, peace and quiet.   
  
"Hello?" Syaoran called out, always the little ambassador. "Anyone home?"  
  
"There's no one here," Kurogane said, straightening up ever-so-subtly from his ready stance. Syaoran probably didn't even notice the way Kurogane's hand moved away from his sword hilt, but Fai couldn't have missed it. "This place is completely deserted."  
  
Fai cheered up at this news. 'Deserted,' after all, meant 'privacy' in a lifestyle that didn't offer much of it. He sidled up to Kurogane's side -- now that he was sure he wouldn't have to worry about blocking his swing -- and attached himself to his left arm. Kurogane glanced over in his direction with a scowl, to which Fai returned a cheeky grin; but the warrior didn't shake him off, and that was what really counted with Kuro-rin.   
  
Mokona hopped up onto Fai's shoulder to get a better view of the room. "No one here?" she asked with a bit of a whine in her voice. "Aww, lonely!"  
  
Fai cleared his throat. "Hmm, I think Kuro-ware is right about there being no  _people_  here," he said. "However, there might be some computers or other types of artificial life that can still help us!"  
  
"Maybe we should look around," Syaoran said. "Is it safe?"  
  
"Should be," Kurogane said. "I don't sense any danger." And if Kurogane said it was safe, then it was safe; his radar for danger was tuned to a far higher pitch than any of theirs, even now.  
  
Fai saw his opening and went for it. "Then maybe we should split up, so that we can cover ground faster!" he proposed. He latched on to Kurogane's shoulder, even as he beamed at the younger members of their party in a way that left no possibility that he could be budged. "Syaoran and Mokona will be on one team, and me and Kuro-cute will be the other team!"  
  
"Yay!" Mokona cheered, as she bounded from Fai's shoulder into Syaoran's arms; she hugged his arm in much the same way that Fai was clinging to Kurogane's. "Mokona and Syaoran are the best team!"  
  
"Ah... r-right." The flush on Syaoran's face left no doubt that he understood the subtext clearly, but he wasn't about to call them out on it. "Let's meet back here in an hour or so. That will give you two enough time to... look around." He coughed.  
  
Fai couldn't resist teasing, just a little bit. "Oh yes, I plan to be  _very_  thorough... in looking around," he purred, sliding himself a little further into Kurogane's personal space.  
  
Kurogane rolled his eyes. " _Tche,"_  he muttered, but his own hand came to rest on the back of Fai's shoulders, and slid down his spine in a way that sent goosebumps up and down Fai's arms.  
  
"Right... right..." Syaoran said, backing hastily away. "Anyway, see you soon!"  
  
They parted ways, Syaoran forging deeper into the heart of the base while Kurogane and Fai went in the opposite direction. It's not that they weren't genuinely exploring; it was just that the prize Fai was looking for was probably not the one Syaoran was looking for. A nice, civilized place like this might or might not have any bedrooms, but it was sure to have  _someplace_  with flat, comfortable surfaces and a door that locked.   
  
Before long they found a hallway that branched off into spacious, cool empty rooms; Kurogane poked his head into a few before passing them by, Fai following behind. At the end of the corridor, a locked door quickly found itself unlocked by virtue of a swift, precise blow from Kurogane's metal arm. Behind it was a large, luxurious office with a broad mahogany desk, an office chair, rows and rows of shelves and bookcases, and a wide low divan. Fai grinned.  _Jackpot._    
  
"Well, this looks like the office of somebody super important," Fai said casually, walking over to the desk and trailing his fingers over the surface. There weren't any papers sitting out, not that he could have read them even if they were. "Guess we should thoroughly  _inspect_  it."   
  
"Heh." Kurogane was already closing the door, scowling a little at the jamb. Splintered shards of metal prevented the door from closing all the way, and certainly from locking. He frowned at the near-closed door for a minute, then shrugged. "Well, there's nobody in here but the kid and Mokona, and both of them know damn well not to come bother us."   
  
"They certainly should, by now. Why, we could be doing  _anything_  in here." By the time Kurogane turned around, Fai was leaning casually against the desk, coat half-off and falling in aesthetic folds around him. He grinned, and crooked one finger to beckon Kurogane closer. "Naughty things.  _Sinful_  things."   
  
"Your upbringing is weird," Kurogane told him, but he obligingly closed the distance between them. He planted his hands on the surface of the desk and bent forward, pressing Fai back and down against the desk's surface, a direction that Fai did not mind at all. "What's sinful about sex?"   
  
"Things that are not for the eyes of young masters and innocent magical constructs, at least," Fai said, laughing against Kurogane's lips. The brush of Kurogane's front against his made him arch and gasp, the sensation sparking up his chest to his throat and down his stomach into his cock. Too long, it's been too damn long since last time and still  _too many damn clothes._    
  
Kurogane caught him up, strong hands under his back pulling him up flush so that there was not an inch of free air between them; Fai found Kurogane's lips with his own and moaned his appreciation into Kurogane's mouth. He braced himself against the floor with one foot and lifted the other to wrap around the back of Kurogane's thigh, pulling them even closer into connection.   
  
"What the fuck --" Kurogane grumbled between kisses, happy little grumbles that were just Kurogane's usual operating noise. "I'll never get over how you're so freaking bendy."   
  
Fai purred deep in his throat as he dropped back against the desk, giving Kurogane his best come-hither look from under lowered eyelashes. "And  _I'll_  never get over how Kuro-beast is so strong," he said. Hands freed, he brought them up in the close space between them to start working on the laces holding Kurogane's cloak in place. "Mmm, the way you broke open that lock like it was nothing..."   
  
"It  _was_  nothing," Kurogane brushed this away. Obligingly, he shrugged his cape onto the floor and lifted his arm for Fai to get at the clasp of his tunic. "So are we going to do this on the desk, or what? There's a couch right there."   
  
"Couches are for cuddling," Fai corrected him. " _Desks_  are for  _fucking_. That way, we don't have to worry about lying in the wet spot."   
  
Kurogane laughed, almost a rusty bark, and Fai smiled in triumph at getting the sound out of him. He managed to divest Kurogane of his tunic, too, and trailed the pads of his fingers down the skin of his chest before sliding them under Kurogane's waistband. "Come on," he whispered. "It's been ages. I've missed you. Get this out and fuck me proper."   
  
"Someone's impatient," Kurogane observed, which Fai thought was hilarious coming from  _him,_  but at least he got to work, undoing the laces of his waistband and freeing his cock. Fai nearly moaned again at the sight of it, springing flush and proud and heavy to stand against his stomach. He nearly ripped off a button in his haste to get his own clothes off, or at the very least, his  _pants._  Why did he ever think it was a good idea to wear leggings this tight, anyway --   
  
"Let me," Kurogane's voice broke into his frustration, a deep breathy rumble that went straight down to his cock. "Damn, you have no idea what those pants do to me. Walking around all day with your ass practically outlined in that leather..."  
  
Oh yeah. Fai beamed up at his lover, stupid mushy thoughts breaking through even the haze of lust that fell over them both. "Why, is Kuro-ware watching my  _ass_  instead of looking where he's going?" he teased. "You know you can't even see it when I've got my coat on..."   
  
"No, but I still  _know."_  Kurogane surged forward, pinning Fai's hands against the desk with his own for a moment, his red eyes roving over Fai, devouring him from head to toe. "You have no idea how much I've missed you..."   
  
"I think I can guess," Fai murmured, voice softening from its usual teasing tone. He arched his back a bit, bringing his mouth up to kiss Kurogane again, ending with a slight nip against his chin. "Why don't you show me?"   
  
He let Kurogane undress him; for all the casual strength which could break a lock or punch through a wall or behead a dragon, Kurogane was always so careful, so delicate with him. A powerful swell of love rose up in Fai, leaving him feeling at once incomparably warm and full and also cold and empty.   
  
"Kuro-sama," he moaned, pulling Kurogane back down over him as soon as his pants were kicked free. It was  _chilly_  in the abandoned office, and Kurogane's skin burned like a furnace. "I want you, I need you..."   
  
Kurogane hummed, not bothering to answer; he took hold of Fai's hips and slid him across the desk until their groins were in better alignment, then reached down to take both of their cocks together in hand. He had such wonderful hands, so big and strong and callused in  _just_  the right way; such wonderful hands, and he knew exactly what to do with them.   
  
The first few careful strokes made Fai moan and buck against his lover, and Kurogane gave another rusty chuckle. "Damn, you're already all the way there, aren't you?" Kurogane said softly. "Don't need much handling at all. Where'd you stash the lube?"   
  
"What? Oh, I..." Actually, he'd lost it several worlds back; the last time they'd had a private room to themselves, it had been a hotel room with complimentary supplies. Fortunately, he had access to alternatives. "Give me your hand," he whispered.   
  
With a somewhat suspicious look on his face, Kurogane placed his empty hand palm-up. Fai took it and kissed the palm, smiled against the skin, then traced a glyph on the rugged calluses. Kurogane cursed with surprise as magic tingled and sizzled in the air, filling his palm with a slick, odorless grease. "The fuck," he said, closing his hand to rub his fingers together. "Did you just... cast a magic lube spell? Why is there even a magic spell for lube? What the fuck."   
  
Fai laughed. "Magic is useful for  _all_  kinds of things, Kuro-brute," he said. He kicked his heels against Kurogane's lower back, impatiently. "Come on. I'll give you a lecture about the intersection of creationism and summoning theory later. In the meantime, just fuck me already!"   
  
He still grumbled under his breath, but Kurogane was a man of action; he traded off some of the slick clear grease from one hand to the other, spreading it smoothly over their joined cocks, even as his other hand slid under Fai's hips to probe at his entrance. Fai let his head fall back and eyelids flutter, groaning without restraint as he felt his body opening up to the man he loved; loved Kurogane, loved  _this._    
  
It had been too long, but his body still remembered what to do; Kurogane managed to stretch his entrance smoothly and with only the mildest of discomfort. Fai clung to Kurogane's shoulder as the bigger man repositioned them both, chanting "yes, yes, yes" under his breath as Kurogane's proud, stiff cock slid home.   
  
"Yes! Kuro-sama, yes!" Fai shouted, his voice ringing off the cold, barren surfaces of the office. Kurogane's face was buried against the side of his neck, teeth gripping and worrying at the skin of his throat. He sank slowly in, deeper, hotter, until Fai could no longer remember what it felt like to be cold, to be empty, not with Kurogane burning him from the inside out. He shifted excruciatingly slowly, just little changes of angle and depth until he had Fai pinned up against the desk  _just right;_  and then he began to move.   
  
No need to keep their voices down; Fai cried out freely and gladly, his shouts mingling with Kurogane's softer groans and growls as they moved together. Kurogane hadn't been wrong; Fai was  _ready,_  so ready, he'd been missing this and aching for this for  _weeks_ ; he hardly needed the extra stimulation of Kurogane's cock brushing against his prostate to make him see stars. He felt the wave building, growing smoothly from the base of his spine outwards; "Ah -- K-Kuro-sama, I'm about to --"   
  
" _Do it,"_  Kurogane hissed in his ear, and he thrust into Fai with a mighty roll of his hips, and then  
  
    
  
 

* * *

  
  
  1.  
  
   
  
The first few seconds of any world, no matter how strange, were always the same.   
  
Time and space warped around them, stretched almost to the breaking point; through the veil of Mokona's magic they saw only blurs of color and form, sky and ground and looming shape. Then they took the last step, the spell was over, and the world snapped into place again.   
  
This time Mokona had brought them inside a large building, the ceiling high overhead and the walls spaced wide apart from each other. Bright white lights shone upwards from hidden recesses along the walls, and both walls and ceiling were made of a hard, rocklike material scuffed with many years of wear. The carpet underfoot was thin and gritty, a dark red color verging on brown.   
  
Syaoran looked around, trying to pick out the details that would tell them what kind of world they'd come to this time. The lights were too steady to be fire, too cold to be sunlight -- either electricity or magic, and he had a hunch it wasn't magic. There was a metallic hum in the air around them that you usually only got in modern buildings, and he was willing to bet that wherever they'd landed this time, it was a modern world much like the one he'd grown up in.   
  
"Hello?" Syaoran called out. His voice echoed emptily, but it just felt wrong and rude not to at least  _try_  to contact whoever the owners of this place was. "Anyone home?"  
  
"There's no one here," Kurogane told him. Fai probably didn't even notice the way Kurogane's hand moved away from his sword hilt, but Syaoran couldn't miss it. "This place is completely deserted."  
  
"No one here?" Mokona said from her perch on Fai's shoulder. "Aww, lonely!"  
  
Fai cleared his throat. "Hmm, I think Kuro-wary is right about there being no  _people_  here," he said. "However, there might be some computers or other types of artificial life that can still help us!"  
  
"Maybe we should look around," Syaoran decided. He glanced up at his mentor. "Is it safe?"  
  
Kurogane shrugged slightly. "Should be. I don't sense any danger," he said. Syaoran knew that he meant not only the sightless sense for life -- human, demon or otherwise -- that allowed him to target foes on a battlefield, but also a combination of other, unspoken cues.  
  
"Then maybe we should split up, so that we can cover ground faster!" Fai, predictably, glommed onto Kurogane's arm, smiling brightly at Syaoran as he did. "Syaoran and Mokona will be on one team, and me and Kuro-cute will be the other team!"  
  
Fai really, really wasn't being subtle. It was obvious to anyone who knew the two older men that they planned to go off and have sex. It had been several worlds now since they'd last had a chance to be alone in private, so there was no doubt in Syaoran's mind at all that they meant to make the most of this opportunity. "Ah... right. Let's meet back here in an hour or so. That will give you two enough time to... look around."   
  
He held out his hands for Mokona, who launched herself into his arms gladly. "Yay! Mokona and Syaoran are the best team!" she cried, hugging his thumb.  
  
Fai's cheerful smile transmuted into a leer. "Oh yes, I plan to be  _very_  thorough... in looking around."  
  
Kurogane rolled his eyes, but Syaoran didn't miss how his hand slid out of sight behind Fai's back, nor the way Fai jumped slightly in response to what was probably a not-very-discreet ass-grab. Syaoran began backing away hastily. "Right... right... anyway, see you soon!" he called over his shoulder.  
  
"Be careful," Kurogane called out as a parting shot, as the two of them disappeared round a corridor. Syaoran was a little fond, a little annoyed by the warning; it was nice to know that Kurogane-san cared, but  _really,_  Syaoran could take care of himself.  
  
Syaoran walked through the deserted -- office? Base? It was hard to put a word to it without knowing more of what it was meant to be. Though most of the individual pieces he saw were familiar -- benches, desks, plastic plants -- they were subtly different in shape and material than he was used to, and put together in a way that was slightly jarring. The walls actually widened as they rose towards the ceiling, slanting sharply outwards for the last few meters before they met an equally slanted roof, giving the whole structure an oddly lopsided, unstable feeling.  
  
At last, though, he came to what seemed to be the center of operations for the whole facility. It had an imposing-looking metal door, its heavy hinges and reinforced panels made moot by the inch of air between the lock and the frame. Syaoran was able to shoulder the heavy door aside, and then he was in.  
  
The room beyond was filled with banks and banks of glass screens -- some dark, some glowing softly with readouts. Most of the lit screens were red, displaying rows of unfamiliar text or unpromising-looking error signs. Along one wall was a row of consoles decorated with controls and keyboards. Syaoran walked over to the console, eyes scanning busily over the text as he went.  
  
Mokona hopped up on the console beside his hands. "What do you think, Syaoran-kun? Can you read it?" she asked encouragingly.  
  
"I'm not sure," Syaoran said absently, his eyes darting quickly from line to line. He frowned. "This isn't one of the languages my father taught me... I don't... I don't think. Some of the symbols are familiar, but don't make very much sense in this context. Others I don't recognize at all!"  
  
"So this room is no use to us, then?" Mokona asked, ears laying flat in disappointment.  
  
"I don't know about that," Syaoran smiled. "I can read some of it. This one says..." His gloved finger traced over "BETA. This one I don't know. This one says... C-O-M... Commit, I think. The fact that I read any of it at all means that at least some of the language is the same. I think, if we could get the computers up and running, we'd be able to find out more."  
  
"Yay!" Mokona cheered. "Should we go and get Kuro-daddy and Fai-daddy and show them what we found?'  
  
Syaoran grimaced. "Maybe not just yet," he said. "It's only been a little while. I think they need more time to, um, be alone."  
  
Mokona giggled. "Fai and Kurogane are K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"  
  
"Among other things," Syaoran sighed. He'd been traveling with the couple for over a year now and had far, far too many vivid memories of walking in on scenes he could never unsee. To their credit, they usually didn't do anything too overt right in front of him or Mokona -- but even when he didn't actually  _see_  them going at it, there were too many nights of canvas tents and thin hotel walls that were no barrier to sound. Honestly, he wasn't really in a rush to meet back up with them just yet.   
  
"Besides, neither of them really know any more about computers than I do. Let's see how far we can get on our own." He moved to the end of the panel, and frowned as he encountered a large, faintly glowing button -- of a different size and shape and set apart from the rest. "What's this? R-E-S-E... Reset."  
  
"Maybe it resets all the computers?" Mokona suggested brightly.  
  
"It's worth a shot," Syaoran said, and he reached out and depressed the butto  
  
   
  
 

* * *

  
  
 1.  
  
   
  
The first few seconds of any world, no matter how strange, were always the same.   
  
Time and space warped around them, stretched almost to the breaking point; through the veil of Mokona's magic they saw only blurs of color and form, sky and ground and looming shape. Then they took the last step, the spell was over, and the world snapped into place again.   
  
This time Mokona had brought them inside a large building, the ceiling high overhead and the walls spaced wide apart from each other. Bright white lights shone upwards from hidden recesses along the walls, and both walls and ceiling were made of a hard, rocklike material scuffed with many years of wear. The carpet underfoot was thin and gritty, a dark red color verging on brown.   
  
Fai looked around; he had a hunch just from the first few seconds of being there that this world wouldn't have much to interest him. He could sense no magic in the vicinity, neither crafted nor intrinsic, and the lights looked flat and electric to him. Still, just because a world wasn't terribly interesting didn't mean it was  _bad;_  in a life spent on the move as theirs was, there was a lot to be said for some humdrum, boring, peace and quiet.   
  
"Hello?" Syaoran called out, always the little ambassador. "Anyone home?"  
  
"There's no one here," Kurogane said, straightening up ever-so-subtly from his ready stance. He peered around at the barren room, squinting suspiciously. "It's quiet… almost  _too_  quiet."  
  
Fai cheered up at this news. 'No one around,' after all, meant 'privacy' in a lifestyle that didn't offer much of it. He sidled up to Kurogane's side -- now that he was sure he wouldn't have to worry about blocking his swing -- and attached himself to his left arm, unable to resist slipping a hand down the back of his waistband in the process. Kurogane glanced over in his direction with a scowl, to which Fai returned a cheeky grin; but the warrior didn't shake him off, and that was what really counted with Kuro-rin.  
  
Mokona hopped up onto Fai's shoulder to get a better view of the room. "No one here?" she asked with a bit of a whine in her voice. "Aww, lonely!"  
  
Fai cleared his throat. "Hmm, I think Kuro-ware is right about there being no  _people_  here," he said. "However, there might be some computers or other types of artificial life that can still help us!"  
  
"Maybe we should look around," Syaoran said. "Is it safe?"  
  
"Should be," Kurogane said. "I don't sense any danger." And if Kurogane said it was safe, then it was safe; his radar for danger was tuned to a far higher pitch than any of theirs, even now.  
  
Fai saw his opening and went for it. "Then maybe we should split up, so that we can cover ground faster!" he proposed. He beamed at the younger members of their party, even as he molded his body against Kurogane's in a way that they could not fail to misinterpret. "Syaoran and Mokona will be on one team, and me and Kuro-cute will be the other team!"  
  
"Yay!" Mokona cheered, as she bounded from Fai's shoulder into Syaoran's arms; she hugged his arm in much the same way that Fai was clinging to Kurogane's. Mokona and Syaoran are the best team!"   
  
"I don't know…" Kurogane spoke up unexpectedly, giving Syaoran a long, unsettling look. "Maybe we should stay together in this world."   
  
Fai's smile turned sharp, and his fingers dug through the fabric into Kurogane's arms. "Don't be ridiculous Kuro-daddy, let's go together," he said, and leaned into Kurogane's ear to hiss, "Alone.  _Together."_    
  
Kurogane rolled his eyes, but didn't follow up on his ridiculous suggestion. Syaoran, face flushed by the by-play, stuttered slightly. The look on his face left no doubt that he understood the subtext clearly, but he wasn't about to call them out on it. "Ah... r-right. Let's meet back here in an hour or so. That will give you two enough time to... look around."  
  
"Oh yes," Fai said, somewhat distracted by trying to tug Kurogane away down the corridor. "More than enough time to…  _look around._ "   
  
"Fine," Kurogane grumbled, the ungrateful brute. "But be careful, you hear me kid? Don't go messing with anything or pushing any buttons. You remember what happened the last time you messed with old technology, right? We got a giant mechanical spider on our ass and it took the Princess to calm it down."  
  
"Right... I remember." Syaoran gave them a distracted wave, obviously trying to avert his eyes from Fai swarming all over the ninja like an octopus. "Don't worry... I'll be careful."  
  
They parted ways, Syaoran forging deeper into the heart of the base while Kurogane and Fai went in the opposite direction. Exploring could wait; right now, Fai was looking for a place where Kurogane could pin him up against the wall in relative privacy. A bedroom, an office, a janitor's closet,  _something!_    
  
Before long they found a hallway that branched off into spacious, cool empty rooms; Fai set off down the hallway, practically dragging Kurogane by his cape. At the end of the corridor, a locked door quickly found itself unlocked by virtue of a swift precise blow from Kurogane's metal arm. Behind it was a large, luxurious office with a broad mahogany desk, an office chair, rows and rows of shelves and bookcases, and a wide low divan. Fai grinned.  _Jackpot._    
  
He dragged Kurogane inside, shoving the door nearly to the jamb and then pushing his boyfriend up against the door panel. He couldn't settle, didn't want to; he did his best to climb Kurogane like a tree, rubbing and writhing against the other man like he could crawl into his clothes, into his skin. He kissed Kurogane with a desperate fervor, as though he could suck the other man's soul out through his mouth. A hot hardness had been building in his groin since the moment they had entered this world, and he rubbed against the matching bulge in Kurogane's leggings -- fuck, he almost didn't need any more, he could almost come just like this --   
  
Kurogane pushed him back -- not enough to break contact between them, just enough to create space. "I should go check on Syaoran," he said abruptly, standing up from against the wall and starting to turn to go.   
  
"Oh, no you don't!" Fai said, determinedly taking a handful of Kurogane's cape and hauling him back. Kurogane went with a yelp -- let himself be pulled, Fai knew; he didn't have the strength to manhandle the larger man if he didn't feel like letting himself be handled. "Not until you fuck me good and proper. Syaoran's a big boy, he can handle himself for fifteen freaking minutes."   
  
"You sure about that?" Kurogane muttered in disbelief, and Fai frowned stormily at him.   
  
"Pants. Off," Fai ordered, and in the interests of fairness he got to work immediately on his own pants. Why had he ever thought it was a good idea to wear such tight, clingy clothes? Sure, the way Kurogane's eyes tracked his ass was an ego-boost, but it was such a pain to get  _off._  And difficult to disrobe, too.   
  
Kurogane had one boot off, and was working on the other one; he had his own pants open and pushed halfway down to his knees, cock springing out between the laces looking proud and flushed, a tiny drop of liquid glistening at the head. For a moment, Fai was overwhelmed with such a surge of lust and want that he was almost dizzy with it. Kicking his own pants away, he dropped to his knees in front of Kurogane and wrapped his arms around his lover's thighs, nuzzling into his groin with a happy sigh. "Little Kuro, I missed you so," he sighed happily.   
  
"Don't -- ah -- don't call it stupid names," Kurogane threw his head back, gritting his teeth as he steadied himself with his hands on Fai's shoulders. "And don't tease."   
  
_Me? Tease? Never,_  Fai thought, but he forewent saying it in favor of leaning forward to take Kurogane's cock in his mouth. The smell of him, the intensity of the flavor was almost overwhelming; his own cock throbbed with need and he reached down to take it in hand, pumping slowly with his right hand while he covered the shaft of Kurogane's cock with his left. He licked up the bottom of the shaft before taking it in his mouth, careful to avoid grazing it with his teeth, and looked up through his lashes at Kurogane's face.   
  
His expressions were always so beautiful; head thrown back against the wall and the line of his throat working as he swallowed, jaw muscles jumping as he gritted his teeth. His eyes were closed and he was just so damn beautiful, face framed in dark spikes of hair, a single drop of sweat working its way down behind his ear. Fai hummed with happiness, wondering if he could get Kurogane to fuck him before he came, or if he should have mercy on the other man now.   
  
Kurogane opened his eyes and stared up at the ceiling, face overtaken by a serious frown. "...I'm gonna go check on the kid," he said decisively. "I just know he's gonna get into some trouble --"   
  
"Kurogane!" Fai snapped, the full name escaping his lips before he could stop it. He saw the wince that crossed his lover's face and regretted it, but  _honestly,_  was this really the time? "Forget about Syaoran-kun! Can you just focus for the ten minutes,  _five minutes_  it would take to do me right?"   
  
"Right, right... sorry," Kurogane said with a sigh, although the interlude had taken its toll; his magnificent erection had gone down a little bit. Fai sighed with regret, but it was probably just as well; they'd both been so close to the edge.  _So_ close, so close he could taste it, building behind his teeth like it was  _years_  in the making. Why was he so wound up, why did he feel so desperate, so frenzied, when it had only been a few weeks since the last time they'd been together...?   
  
Phases of the moon, Fai decided, and put the question out of his mind. He walked backwards across the office, pulling Kurogane with him, leading them both over to the massive mahogany desk. Kurogane stepped out of his pants as he went, hopping a bit to try to work the pant leg over his remaining boot, and that really shouldn't have been as endearing as it was.   
  
"Come on," Fai said, both of them jolting to a stop as his ass hit the edge of the desk. He traced a quick glyph on his palm, warm grease flooding his hand as the magic licked over his skin. He gripped Kurogane's hips to bring him in close, lining up their cocks so he could stroke them both together. "Just like this, this is all we need; just you and me, no one else, nothing else, come on, come  _on..."_    
  
Their mouths met in a kiss, rocking together as their hands moved, passionate and urgent. Compared to their usual fare it was tame, almost ridiculously simple, but after so long spent apart it was all they needed, all he wanted. He just needed to get off, to feel his lover's come against his skin, to smell and taste him, he needed, he  _needed --_    
  
Kurogane abruptly pulled back. "I'm gonna --" he started to say, and Fai grabbed his arm in a vice grip.   
  
"Don't you  _dare,"_  he howled, surging up against K  
  
    
  
 

* * *

  
  
  1.  
  
   
  
The first few seconds of any world, no matter how strange, were always the same.   
  
Time and space warped around them, stretched almost to the breaking point; through the veil of Mokona's magic they saw only blurs of color and form, sky and ground and looming shape. Then they took the last step, the spell was over, and the world snapped into place again.   
  
This time Mokona had brought them inside a large building, the ceiling high overhead and the walls spaced wide apart from each other. Bright white lights shone upwards from hidden recesses along the walls, and both walls and ceiling were made of a hard, rocklike material scuffed with many years of wear. The carpet underfoot was thin and gritty, a dark red color verging on brown.   
  
Syaoran looked around, trying to pick out the details that would tell them what kind of world they'd come to this time. The lights were too steady to be fire, too cold to be sunlight -- either electricity or magic, and he had a hunch it wasn't magic. There was a metallic hum in the air around them that you usually only got in modern buildings, and he was willing to bet that wherever they'd landed this time, it was a modern world much like the one he'd grown up in.   
  
"Hello?" Syaoran called out. He was already pretty sure there was no one here, but he would feel like an intruder if he didn't at least announce his presence. "Anyone home?"   
  
"There's no one here. This place is completely deserted," Kurogane said decisively. "I don't like it. Something's fishy."  
  
"Ooh, I love it when you get all  _protective_ and   _suspicious,"_   Fai breathed, sliding up against Kurogane's side and trying to lick his throat. Kurogane slapped his wandering hands away with a scowl.  
  
Mokona hopped up onto Fai's shoulder, looking around. "No one here? Aww, lonely!" she whined.  
  
Fai cleared his throat, tearing his attention away from Kurogane with obvious different. "Hmm, I think Kuro-wary is right about there being no  _people_  here," he said. "However, there might be some computers or other types of artificial life that can still help us!"  
  
"Maybe we should look around," Syaoran decided. He glanced up at his mentor. "Is it safe?"   
  
"Should be," Kurogane said, although his tone sounded uncertain. "I don't… I don't sense any danger." He frowned at Syaoran, his expression vague and thunderous, while Syaoran hastily searched his conscience. He hadn't done anything to piss Kurogane off anytime recently! Had he?  
  
"Then maybe we should split up, so that we can cover ground faster!" Fai, predictably, grabbed onto Kurogane's arm like a limpet, summoning a rather strained smile for Syaoran's sake. His other hand disappeared somewhere out of sight behind Kurogane's back, and Syaoran didn't want to know where it was now. "Syaoran and Mokona will be on one team, and me and Kuro-cute will be the other team!"   
  
" _No._  We stay together," Kurogane said flatly, and frowned at Syaoran more, until Syaoran felt the need to shuffle around Fai out of Kurogane's direct line of sight.   
  
"But you just said this place was deserted," Fai whined, pouting rather devastatingly up at his boyfriend. "It's perfectly safe, and I really think we should investigate on our own." He leaned up until his teeth were practically in Kurogane's ear, and hissed, " _Alone. Together."_    
  
Kurogane was, unusually, completely unmoved by Fai's antics. "You know how much trouble the kid gets in when left to himself." He followed this with a glare at Syaoran that the younger man felt was completely unwarranted.   
  
"Hey…" Syaoran protested. Fai came to his defense almost immediately.   
  
"I think that's rather rude, don't you Syaoran?" Fai flashed him a winning smile. "Kuro-daddy needs to learn when to act for the good of the team. Especially his poor, lonely,  ** _neglected_**  husband."   
  
" _Tche."_  Kurogane gave ground with ill grace, rolling his eyes. "Fine…"  
  
"Yay!" Mokona cheered, as she launched herself into Syaoran's arms, already automatically reaching up to catch her. She hugged his hand. "Mokona and Syaoran are the best team!"  
  
"Ah... right." Syaoran cleared his throat, trying to get them all back on track. "Let's meet back here in an hour or so. That will give you two enough time to..." He gestured vaguely, trying to convey his meaning without being too crude. "Look around."  
  
"Yes, yes," Fai said distractedly, already trying to drag Kurogane away down the corridor. "Two or three times already, if Kuro-slow would just  _get going already."_  
  
Kurogane, however, still resisted being pulled away by Fai as he directed his forbidding expression towards Syaoran. "Just don't touch anything, understand?" he growled.  _"Don't touch **anything**_ **.**  Don't press any buttons, or pull any tags, or wake up any ancient machines, or anything like that. Just… just don't do anything when we're not around, all right?"  
  
"Okay, sheesh, I get it," Syaoran said, more than a little annoyed by Kurogane's repressive attitude. It wasn't like he hadn't explored plenty of ruins before… well, mostly through the other Syaoran's eyes, but still. That counted. Right? "I'll be careful. I'm not a child, you know."   
  
"We'll see," Kurogane shot over his shoulder, stabbing his index finger one last time at Syaoran even as he was dragged away. **"DON'T PRESS ANY BUTTONS."**    
  
Syaoran walked through the deserted research base. Computer desks, chairs, plastic plants -- this was obviously a place that a lot of scientists had been working for quite some time. The walls actually widened as they rose towards the ceiling, slanting sharply outwards for the last few meters before they met an equally slanted roof, giving the whole structure an oddly lopsided, unstable feeling. It was distinctive and strange, but somehow Syaoran had a feeling he'd seen something like it before.  
  
Despite being all one single, solid rectangle of concrete, the place was filled with oddly mazelike corridors, that Syaoran navigated with unconscious ease. Before long, they came to what seemed to be the center of operations for the whole facility. It had an imposing-looking metal door, its heavy hinges and reinforced panels made moot by the inch of air between the lock and the frame. Syaoran was able to shoulder the heavy door aside, and then he was in.  
  
The room beyond was filled with banks and banks of glass screens -- some dark, some glowing softly with readouts. Most of the lit screens were red, displaying rows of unfamiliar text or unpromising-looking error signs. Along one wall was a row of consoles decorated with controls and keyboards. Syaoran walked over to the console, eyes scanning busily over the text as he went.  
  
Mokona hopped up on the console beside his hands. "What do you think, Syaoran-kun? Can you read it?" she asked encouragingly.  
  
"I'm not sure," Syaoran said absently, his eyes darting quickly from line to line. He frowned. "This isn't one of the languages my father taught me... but I recognize parts of it anyway. Some of these symbols I know, but they're in a different context than I'm used to. This one says BETA… This one is RETURN... COMMIT. I can read the words, but I don't know what they mean to whoever built this place. I think if we could get the computers up and running, we'd be able to find out more."  
  
"Yay!" Mokona cheered. "Should we go and get Kuro-daddy and Fai-daddy and show them what we found?'  
  
Syaoran grimaced. "Maybe not just yet," he said. "It's only been a little while. I think they need more time to, um, be alone."  
  
Mokona giggled. "Fai and Kurogane are K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"  
  
"Among other things," Syaoran sighed. He shuddered. He'd only seen Fai this sex-crazed once before, when a long spell of unpleasant worlds had put a halt to any private time between him and Kurogane for over a month. When they'd finally gotten to a world with available hotel rooms, Syaoran had been able to hear them 'making up' from a floor and a half away. He wasn't really in a hurry to go looking for the others again so soon.   
  
"Besides, neither of them know more about computers than I do. Let's see how far we can get on our own." He moved to the end of the panel, and frowned as he encountered a large, faintly glowing button -- of a different size and shape and set apart from the rest. "What's this? R-E-S-E... Reset."  
  
"Maybe it resets all the computers?" Mokona suggested brightly. "Yuuko says sometimes that the only way to get a computer to work again is to turn it off and turn it on again. Or sometimes to hit it really hard with a baseball bat. Do you think this button would make the computers work again?"  
  
"It might!" Syaoran lit up with enthusiasm, which faltered as Kurogane's forbidding scowl flashed in his mind. "But... Kurogane-san did tell us not to push any buttons. So I'll leave that alone for now." He stepped back reluctantly from the panel. "Let's see what else we can find out."  
  
They began to comb the control room more carefully, investigated every element and screen. Well, Syaoran investigated every piece of text he could read; Mokona mostly just wandered around the screens and keyboards. "This place reminds Mokona of a video game!" she opined, as Syaoran wrestled open one cabinet drawer, then another. "Not the ones that Kero-chan plays all the time, though. Sheesh, he gets so into it, he screams and cusses and kicks the controller..."   
  
"Mm," Syaoran said, squinting through a darkened glass window into a bare, sterile-looking chamber beyond. DO NOT ENTER… something… CHAMBER WHEN… something… FIELD IS… something. He squinted at the unrecognizable words, trying to blur them into focus.  
  
"It's like an addiction!" Mokona was still going on about Kero-chan's video games, sounding disgruntled. Syaoran let her voice fade out in his mind as he paged through a thick stack of folders. "Yuuko always said that video games are awful about addictions. Staying in one place for hour after hour, doing the same motions over and over again…"   
  
Syaoran yelled in sudden excitement, straightening up so fast he nearly banged his head on a desk, if not for some last-minute instinct to avoid it. "Look at this!" he shouted, and Mokona abandoned her fiddling to come quickly to his side.  
  
"What? What did you find?" Mokona wanted to know.   
  
"I don't know for sure, but..." Syaoran's eyes scanned rapidly over the text and diagrams, glancing up repeatedly to compare the description of the experiment with the large, now-deactivated square of force fields in the room beyond. "If these notes are correct... then this is a scientific research facility devoted to quantum flux equations!"  
  
Mokona's small face scrunched up with confusion. "What does that mean?"  
  
"These people were doing experiments with time itself!" Syaoran was nearly beside himself with excitement. "Do you know what this means, Moko-chan? This could be the answer! This could be the key to help save my father and mother... or who knows what else! I see now why your gem brought us to this place. We  _have_  to find out what they were doing with those experiments!"  
  
He strode off towards the console. "What are you going to do?" Mokona asked, trailing along behind.  
  
"We have to get these computer systems working," Syaoran said determinedly. "All the information is in there -- these are just old printouts. I've  _got_  to get this system back online."  
  
"So you're going to RESET?" Mokona sounded extremely doubtful. "But Kurogane-san said --"  
  
"Not to push any buttons -- I know, but we absolutely have to get those computers working," Syaoran exclaimed. Really, there was no reason for Kurogane to be so paranoid. After all, Syaoran knew more about computers than either of the older men; if they already weren't working, then resetting them was a simple, painless measure to bring them back online. Seriously, what could it hurt?   
  
He reached out towards the button.   
  
**" _DON'T TOOOOOUCH THAAAAAAT!"_**  a familiar voice bellowed. Syaoran jumped, his hand barely missing the button as he whirled around.   
  
Charging down the corridor, Ginryuu out and ready, buck naked and at full attenition, Kurogane came thundering like a charging bull. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as he came barreling towards them, red eyes blazing and naked sword -- and also blade -- at the ready.   
  
Syaoran took one look at the vision bearing down on him, and hit RESET  
  
  

* * *

  
1.  
   
  
   
  
The first few seconds of any world, no matter how strange, were always the same.  
  
   
  
 

* * *

  
  
  
~the end.


End file.
